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21/08/2010 11:03:33

NeilExperimental userMuvizu staff
Neil
Posts: 396 		Hi Kaynine, I'm glad to see that you're making headway with your decrepit PC.


Thanks for the feedback, it's greatly appreciated. We realise that the single-file dialogue solution that we currently use is simple and limited and can be frustrating if you're trying to do anything complex. If it helps in the meantime, you can use the 'timeline' window to make tweaks to the timing of your talk and shush events after you've recorded them.

There's a new version of Muvizu due to be released in just over a week, and then we're going to start working on the version after that. You have my word that I'm going to push for the dialogue system to be improved by then. I have a few ideas about how to do it, so watch this space.

Addressing your questions...

1) If the voices overlap, then I'm afraid you're stuck with the characters lip-syncing to the combined speech. Sadly this is where the single-audio solution completely fails.

2) I'll mention the top hat to our art department.

3) We've discussed an auto-save function, but we don't think it could happen quietly in the background so we think it would interrupt the user too often and for too long, making it annoying. We are looking into another solution, however, but sadly it won't be ready any time soon.

4) I'll mention the parrot animation to the art department too, but I think animated attachments will probably have to wait a while.

5) Characters currently have an 'expressive' slider in the 'body' page of the character editor that might do what you want. Try it out and let us know if it does the job for you.

6) Oh my, the political correctness arguments that will happen if we let you remove limbs!

7) Great idea, I was thinking something similar last week while trying to direct a short test video. I'll look into it for the next release cycle.

8) If you press F1 or go to 'help' on the menu, you can bring up a keyboard help dialog box that should help you out. There's a couple of mistooks on it in the current release, and a few keys are missing, but the new release will fix that.

Keep the opinions and feedback coming, it's not only useful for us to make the software better for you, but also great for other users to see how others are getting on.


PS: I have a Zoom 505 II too, I recognised some of those effects before I even read your post.
edited by Neil on 8/21/2010
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21/08/2010 13:00:53

GordonMuvizu staff
Gordon
Posts: 23 		Nice work Please keep the movies and the feedback coming, it's good stuff and very useful.
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25/08/2010 17:48:41

NeilExperimental userMuvizu staff
Neil
Posts: 396 		I'll try to keep my reponses inline with your questions...

1) Hehe, I'll pass that on as well.

2) You can currently apply a texture to the front and back of each character. Right-click the character and select "decals" from the "page" drop-down. It's a little limited compared to what you're after, but it's a start. Applying a texture to the whole t-shirt is going to be complicated. Think trying to wrap a globe with a square tablecloth. But I'll discuss it with the artists.

3) We deliberately stayed away from the timeline with the really early versions of Muvizu because we want people to jump in and start animating immediately, not get bogged down with the fine detail of what happens when. We always wanted to do a timeline, but we don't want it to become the main focus of using Muvizu. That said, we're constantly looking to improve it, so it may well happen at some point. It's not something we're actively looking at right now, however.

4) Would you mind expanding on this? Do you mean the camera window that usually lives in the top-right corner?

5) Great idea. Feel free to start one.

6) I'll pass this over to our resident codec expert and keep poking him until he posts here.

7) There are skirts coming with the update next week, hopefully that'll do for now.

8) You're right, the long hair we have currently is already looking a bit static. I'll pass it on to the artists however, maybe they can come up with something that works.

9) I'll poke the codec expert some more.

10) We already have dance steps, in the Z-Factor category. If there are any specific ones you're after, let us know. We can't currently change the speed of animations, but it is something we've started looking into.

If I've missed anything or you want me to elaborate, just let me know. And keep the feedback coming.
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25/08/2010 23:37:44

GordonMuvizu staff
Gordon
Posts: 23 		Hey Neil, I thought you were the codec expert? :P
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26/08/2010 07:08:26

Than
Than
Posts: 127 		I don't read instructions on things I just go straight in and use programs, and that usually works for me but I had assumed you could load more than 1 audio and got stuck until I went and listened to the tutorial. Like your animation.
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26/08/2010 08:59:25

mcmillan-raExperimental userMuvizu staff
mcmillan-ra
Posts: 164 		Oy! Stop poking me.

I'm actually not really an expert, but I guess it's all relative.

We will support anything that video for windows will allow us to use. Which should be any video codec with a fourcc, that supports the resolution chosen. As to which ones are any good, personally, I quite like xvid but maybe that's just me.

Uncompressed gives you the best quality output, but the files will be absolutely huge, and you won't really be able to get that long a clip due to the limitations of the video for windows library.

At the moment, we just ask all the codecs to be top quality. But I had a quick look, and getting the configuration boxes up should be straight forward. While it won't make it into the release next week, it will be in the one after that. About 8 weeks after - I think.

If you use something like ffdshow then it can give you a much wider range of codecs and there's an external config program for it. (Actually, so does xvid.) I know that Barry used ffdshow when he did his latest Geraldo clip. XVid, DivX and other mp4 based codecs gave him a lot of grief when he was doing some post process work with it.

A couple of other things in the pipeline for video output. (No timescales on these, they'll happen when they happen.)

1. Image sequence output + Audio file. This is easier to work with for some video editing software.
2. Change the way we write video files. We currently use the old video for windows library, which is - shall we say - rubbish. We did this originally to get it in and working quickly, but there are a lot of limitations to using it - we're aware of them and want to change it - but it's really a case of when we can fit it in.
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26/08/2010 09:30:15

NeilExperimental userMuvizu staff
Neil
Posts: 396 		Gordon wrote:
Hey Neil, I thought you were the codec expert? :P




*shudder*
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26/08/2010 12:21:56

glasgowjim
glasgowjim
Posts: 698 		Kaynine wrote:
Than wrote:
I had assumed you could load more than 1 audio ... Like your animation.

Thanks.

Must admit, I think the audio system is going to be the one thing that will cause me problems as I really enjoy using sound. My solution at the moment is to use my previous animation program because it has such a superb system for creating complex soundtracks using 5 separate tracks which, when appropriate, can be mixed and saved as a single file. Each of those tracks can accept as many small imports as you need. (My most complicated project used over 100 such fragments, sound FX and other imports). So that side of things works well. With Muvizu, my main problems, I suspect, will be:

(1) The need to work with a fixed audio track which will effectively determine the structure and timing of the animation.
(2) The difficulty of being able to tell how long part of an audio track will need to run so as to work effectively with whatever movement animation(s) I use with characters.
(3) Other general timing problems. (eg: if footstep sounds needed to be synchronised with animated footfall).

What I think I'll do in the short term will be to make a rough audio track > create the Muvizu animation > export this into my other animation program > adjust the audio track there and add whatever else is needed > render to avi from that program. In a very simple way, that's what I'll be doing with my next project which will probably be titled 'Unfaithful Nancy'. It will use an animated 'sailor' singing a seasong with added audio FX as a first experiment. The Muvizu element has been completed and is now imported into the other program ready for further processing although most of that will involve the overlaying of separate animated sequences.

What would be really useful and interesting would be to hear from other users or members of the development team who have made some of the more complex Muvizu animations to explain how they go about creating their work .... especially as regards timing issues when having to work with the single audio file. In the forum for my previous program, I did that sort of thing with 'walkthrough's for specific projects which I thought might help other users if they also wanted to try some particular effects or ideas).


Hi again,

While there can only be 1 dialogue track there are actually 3 audio tracks in Muvizu: Background Audio, SFX and Dialogue - the SFX track is pretty useful as you can upload your own custom effects and use them in the same way as animations: either using the numpad or mouse then dragging them around the timeline until you have them at the desired location.

In my video "Casualty vs Match of the Day" all audio that I used was on the SFX track so that I could get the timing right.

The background audio is also pretty useful as it allows you do things like have separate music and lyrics which leads to better lip syncing.

Take care,
-Jim.
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23/10/2010 07:40:55

john-f-hall
john-f-hall
Posts: 5 		Just to add an option to the voice sound track, what I do is use the sound effects track for the initial dialogue. This allows me to get the timing correct. When I am happy with the overall movie and speech, I then create the video. I then use this video to load into the single dialogue track. Then delete the duplicate individual speech from the effects track.
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Muvizu is easy to use 3D animation software that allows anyone to create high quality animations quickly and easily. Muvizu’s animation engine is ideal for storytellers, animators, teachers and businesses looking to engage, enchant and delight audiences with animated content.